Cascadia options Sands of Time property

Cascadia Minerals Ltd. Aug. 8 announced the optioning of the Sands of Time property in central Yukon from Fireweed Metals' Chief Geologist Jack Milton.

Lying immediately adjacent to Western Copper and Gold's world-class Casino gold-silver-copper-molybdenum project, Sands of Time is a 57-square-kilometer (22 square miles) project that could hold significant resources.

According to Cascadia, through the work of Milton, the property has been found to possibly host at least two large, underexplored copper- and molybdenum-in-soil anomalies similar in size to those found at Casino – the larger of which has never been drilled.

"We're pleased to be adding the Sands of Time property to our portfolio of copper exploration projects," said Cascadia Minerals President and CEO Graham Downs. "Jack has utilized modern geological techniques to identify compelling, science-based evidence that the property may host porphyry-style mineralization under cover."

The first target of interest, the Amoco showing on the western side of Sands of Time, has a 1,100- by 600-meter copper-molybdenum soil anomaly.

Last drilled in 1976 by the Amoco Canada Petroleum Company, four shallow holes were collared just outside the soil anomaly. The holes were anomalous for copper and molybdenum, with up to 0.02% copper and 50 parts per million molybdenum over 154 meters; however, they were not assayed for gold.

The second target of interest lies in the northeast corner of the Sands of Time claims and holds a large 5,000 by 1,500-meter molybdenum-in-soil anomaly with associated copper that has never been drilled.

Located within a moderate to strong 4,000- by 4,000-meter magnetic high and coincident with two roughly 1,000- by 1,000-meter potassium highs identified by a 2012 airborne radiometrics survey, this untested target may hold future surprises for the company.

In addition to the potential molybdenum and copper, Casino suite-aged zircons were identified in stream sediments draining the property, suggesting there may be an unmapped intrusion of similar age to Casino. Furthermore, a high abundance of gold grains was encountered in stream sediments in similar abundance to the drainage below the Casino deposit, suggesting a bedrock gold source may be present as well.

The terms of the option for Cascadia to acquire 100% of the property include making cash payments of C$200,000, issuance of 900,000 shares, and incurring C$1.3 million in exploration expenditures by the end of 2026.

Following completion of the option, the property will remain subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty, of which half can be purchased by Cascadia for C$1 million.

Finally, a milestone payment of $1 per ounce of gold-equivalent will also be due to Milton upon completion of the first measured or indicated mineral resource at Sands of Time, equal to or greater than one million oz gold-equivalent.

"We look forward to building on Jack's work on the property with a systematic exploration campaign to fully evaluate its potential," said Downs.